READING LIST: October 28th

A rather light day in the news today, so we’ll start with the good stuff…

Popular Culture

Friday Night Lights is back! Hallelujah! This criminally under-watched show about life in a small, economically recessed Texas town is one of the best shows on television, hands down — and it’s finally back from a break that seemed far too long for its die-hard fans. If you haven’t seen FNL, you must remedy the situation. (After all, the DVD sets are only $20 at Wal-Mart. How can you afford not to?) Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton are two of the best, yet most underappreciated actors on television — something I hope will change as the show takes big steps into a constantly evolving and uncertain future. Get psyched for season four with James Poniewozik’s great preview article. [Time]

Also, ABC’s Modern Family rounded into their sixth episode of the season tonight. I’m not a huge fan of ABC (I generally loathe their programming as a core principle), but Modern Family is the best new show of the fall TV season — and I love Community as much as the next guy. It just seems to me that Modern Family is a little sharper and has a little more heart. Tonight wasn’t their best episode, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t pretty great. As per usual, The A.V. Club has their customary recap. [The A.V. Club]

Sports

If you consider yourself a sports fan and you’ve never read any of Bill Simmons work, well, I just feel sorry for you. One of the best (and certainly the funniest) sports columnists around, Simmons effortlessly blends a fan’s perspective of both sports and pop culture to absolute perfection. If you’re not familiar with Simmons, you need to be. If you already are, then you’ll probably find this video (with Kenny Mayne) to be pretty funny. [ESPN]

I’m 99 percent sure this is a huge joke, but it’s not a laughing matter: J.J. Redick should never, under any circumstances, be allowed to record a rap album. I don’t care how semi-ironically hilarious his blog is. [J.J. Redick]

Politics

A slow news day in the political realm today, but there was some worthwhile commentary.

Andrew Sullivan thinks those dastardly Democrats have really put the GOP between a rock and a political hard place with their “opt-out” version of the public option. He may be right. [The Atlantic]

And Richard Wolffe probes the depths of Joe Biden’s new found unpopularity — and his potential similarities to the Sith Lord himself, Dick Cheney. [The Daily Beast]

That’s all for today. As always feel free to leave your comments below.

Steve Pierce is the co-founder and editor of Rhombus. He publishes the Reading List, a daily digest of the best content from around the Internet, Monday through Friday.